6 Sept 2024

ESA-built demonstrator prints first metal part on the ISS

Advanced manufacturing
AI illustration · Illustrative scene, not a photograph of the specific device or experiment.

What was demonstrated

In August 2024 ESA's Metal 3D Printer, a technology demonstrator built by Airbus and partners, finished printing the first 3D metal shape on the International Space Station. The printer was installed in the European Drawer Rack in ESA's Columbus module and print operations were overseen from the ground by CNES. ESA reports the first sample and three further planned samples will return to Earth for quality analysis. The announcement gives no dimensions, alloy name, mechanical properties or quality test results.

Why it matters

ESA says this is the first printer to successfully print a metal part in microgravity. Earlier printers on the ISS were plastic, so the result extends on-orbit printing from polymers to metals. Whether metal parts printed in orbit match Earth-made parts in strength and reliability is not shown by this announcement, so it is best read as a process demonstration rather than evidence of flight-qualified parts.

Caveats

  • ESA's announcement reports no dimensions, alloy, mechanical properties or quality results. It said the samples would be returned to Earth for quality analysis, and no analysis results are given.
  • The printer is a technology demonstrator and the result is a single printed shape, not a qualified component.
  • Print operations were overseen from the ground by CNES, so the result does not show autonomous on-orbit repair or replacement of parts.

Technology profiles

Sources

  1. other
    ESA 3D prints first metal part on the International Space Station
    European Space Agency, 6 Sept 2024.

Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.